East Greenland: Kulusuk

Joan and I lugged the packed duffels out to our tent's porch by 9am, and then we were off to breakfast. The morning activity would be a hike, or rather two, one a fast-packed and longer jaunt up the valley, and the other, moseying around with photography stops at any time.

But at the hike's start the groups were kept together, for there was a surprise. One of Julius' sled (and summertime bear-deterrent) dogs had puppies!

Mama didn't seem too concerned, Julius's dogs being very socialized for working dogs. She didn't even mind having her picture taken.

We were taken with the puppies. Or did they capture us?

We could even cuddle them. Can't take 'em home, though.

Mom got involved in a game: tug-of-war with Drew's glove.

We reluctantly left the puppies and began our walks. Joan and I went with the faster/longer group, and quickly put some distance between us and base camp dwindling behind.

The glacial valley had no particular trail, so Drew guided us through vegetation (the wild blueberries were delicious) and across or along watercourses and rocky bluffs.

After passing a series of lakes and pools, some of which contained arctic char, I took a photo looking back. Couldn't see base camp from here!

We returned to camp just in time for lunch. About 1:30 the helicopter arrived, carrying supplies for the next group.

The heli would make four trips to take fourteen people (twelve guests and Katie and Drew) plus their luggage to Kulusuk. Joan and I were in the first wave, and I was lucky enough to be assigned the up-front seat next to the pilot. The chopper covered the morning's hike in just a couple of minutes.

After cresting the pass our helicopter soon reached the ocean and flew over a series of islands and peninsulas.

Then the runway came into view, stretching from left to right.

Nobody from the hotel was at the airport when we disembarked. Drew made a couple of phone calls, and we waited only ten minutes before the hotel van pulled up. The Hotel Kulusuk was relatively close by, not in town, further away.

We were instructed to gather at 4:00 in the hotel lobby for a walk "with twenty minutes of sitting, so dress warmly." A mystery! A local Danish couple joined Drew and Katie to escort us to the new cemetery, near the top of the hill separating the hotel from the town. This view looks back the way we've come, before arriving at the crest. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

We paused briefly to peruse the cemetery, and then continued uphill.

At the top our four guides introduced a very animated and expressive Anda Kûitse,

one of children of the famous Inuit drum dancer Milka "Miilikka" Kûitse. He performed three dances for us:

• The Tale of Wonder. Don't puzzle over things such as your breath freezing in the air, just enjoy them.
• The Raven and the Goose. This is a love story gone bad whose theme was that sometimes two people can be so different that they cannot be together.
• The Bachelor's Song extols the virtues of the single life. In traditional Inuit life the single life would be rare unless a mother or sister were there to handle the women's jobs. A good hunter might have two, three, or even four wives!

This video clip records part of two dances. Can you guess which one the second half is?


Anda has toured in Europe as well, although he has a reputation for disappearing between performances.

We received departing gifts on the mountain, a carved tupilaq and a NatHab Base Camp patch. Earlier Drew had given each of us a hand-written card with a pressed Greenland flower in it!

The farewell dinner back at the hotel included an exchange of email addresses. However, today did not mark our last outing -- our flight tomorrow wasn't until the afternoon.

Arctic Journey: Qaqortok

The Explorer approached Qaqortoq as we finished lunch. Qaqortoq is the fourth-largest town in Greenland, with about 3200 inhabitants. Just like Nanortalik, it sprawls around a harbor.

Here in Greenland "taking your truck into town" has a whole new meaning.

In 1993-4 the artist Aka Hoegh presided over the Stone & Man project, aimed at transforming Qaqortoq into an open air art gallery. It attracted numerous artists and there are now 40 works in the town. Several of these were just opposite our dock.

There was also a stand of Greenland's national flower, the Niviarsiaq -- commonly known in North America as broad-leafed fireweed.

Joan and I joined one of the groups taking a guided tour. One early stop, after the Stone & Man works, was a museum. Here is a room showing typical early 20th Century living for the Greenlanders; the resident Danes usually lived more comfortably.

The top floor is dedicated to Charles Lindbergh, who stayed here during part of his 1933 visit to Greenland, scouting possible routes for transAtlantic flight on behalf of Pan Am. The plane he flew acquired its nickname of Tingmissartoq in Greenland.

Elsewhere there was this display of Inuit costume.

And a display of various styles of that Inuit invention, the kayak.

Then our group moved on to the town fountain, the oldest in Greenland, built in 1927. I apologize to our guide for taking this picture when she was busy answering a question; there will be a better one towards the end.

This is the sign at the nearby fish market.

A vendor is selling seal meat.

The next stop was the older of two Lutheran churches in Qaqortoq, established in 1832.

We were able to go inside.

Directly adjacent to the church is a small mortuary chapel. This stores coffins (occupied) which can't be buried in winter because of the frozen ground, but must wait until spring. The municipality digs spare graves each summer based on an actuarial estimate, but there are years with extra demand.

Here our group disbanded to allow individual exploration. Joan and I used the provided map to investigate two viewpoints. On the way, we saw this piece of yard art.

The first viewpoint was uninteresting, but the next one provided a great view down to the harbor. The lupine in the foreground is commonly planted here and in Iceland to combat erosion.

Along the way we passed apartment blocks with unusual porch/stairways, and children playing on or with whatever was handy.

Then Joan and I scrambled down the hill to the Hotel Qaqortoq, visible from our viewpoint. At 4:30 there was a Greenlandic Food Tasting, buffet style, at the hotel, and we didn't want to be late. The items on offer included dried cod, whale blubber, lumpfish roe, dried seal meat, smoked Arctic trout, reindeer paté, and more, all of which I failed to photograph. I skipped the blubber and roe, but tasted most of the rest.

After dinner aboard ship we were treated to a performance of traditional Inuit drum dancing, whose origins are at least 4500 years old. These dances can reflect personal expression, be a source of entertainment, and a method of dueling to settle serious disputes. Here our guide from the afternoon stands beside the performer.

I recorded this shorter, one-minute dance. Note that the drummer strikes the edge of the drum, not the stretched skin.

After our guests departed we set sail again, with another worthwhile sunset at hand.

Tomorrow we will visit Brattahlíð, or Brattahlid, Erik the Red's estate and probably the site of the first church in the New World.